Daily Archives: 5 April 2011

The Sunday Standard, the new weekend paper from the Madras-based New Indian Express group, has been launched from Delhi. The 16-page paper with a 16-page magazine section, lists former India Today names Prabhu Chawla as editorial director and the writer-cartoonist Ravi Shankar as executive editor. The paper is priced at Rs 4.

The launch issue of the paper has a brief introductory note on page one, column one:

Namaskar

It is with great pleasure that we launch The Sunday Standard in Delhi today. The venture is new, but the title is old. Started by N.J. Hamilton in Bombay in 1936 with R.K. Karanjia as editor, The Sunday Standard was taken over by Ramnath Goenka and built into a beloved icon of the early years of Independence.

That it is part of a great legacy carrying with it the imprint of eminent writers and managers besides the incomparable Ramnathji himself is a fact that fills my colleagues and me with humility. At the same time, we are proud to bring a heritage title to life in the national capital at a very critical time in the history of our country.

We seek your support in our endeavours. Ultimately, a newspaper is a public service and we wish The Sunday Standard to be seen as a such. We would like nothing more than being a partner alongside you in building a tomorrow that will make all of us proud f this precious country.

Thank you and best wishes.

Manoj Kumar Sonthalia

Chairman, The New Indian Express group

The first issue has an opinion poll, introduced by another ex-India Today staffer V. Shankkar Aiyar, which says the BJP’s Narendra Modi is seen as the top opposition choice for prime minister. Among the other columnists in the launch issue are Shiela Dikshit, Khushbooo, Manish Tiwari and Rajeev Chandrasekhar.